


After Hours

by nobleshroud



Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Amaurotine Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-24
Updated: 2019-09-24
Packaged: 2020-10-27 09:36:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20758232
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nobleshroud/pseuds/nobleshroud
Summary: The head of the Convocation of Fourteen discovers Elidibus' hidden talent.





	After Hours

It was far too late for any respectable person to be awake, which was why only a Convocation member would be up at this hour. Persephone turned to lock her office door behind her but paused as the suggestion of music lilted down the hall. She pulled off her hood and canted her head to better listen – the lounge piano, perhaps? The building was empty this time of night, sure, but that was still several floors down.

But curiosity demanded she find the player, and so she followed her ears down several flights of stairs before at last arriving on the correct floor. She crept to the edge of the lounge and poked her head inside. Elidibus presided over the piano, illuminated by a solitary lamp.

His head was bowed as though in prayer, as though the very act of playing had him enthralled. She’d never noticed how spidery his fingers were until she watched them dance effortlessly over the keys. A bit of hair poked out from under his hood; she couldn’t remember the last time she’d ever seen him even remotely unkempt.

She stepped forward, enough that she would make herself visible to him, but not enough that’d she’d interrupt. Nevertheless, Elidibus fell still and looked up with a smile. The sudden absence of music was almost painful.

“Chairwoman. I’d thought you’d gone home.”

“I didn’t know you were a musician.” She beamed, striding over.

“Mm.” He patted the stool next to him, ever the friendly diplomat. “I started this way, believe it or not. Everyone around me was creating so effortlessly that I took to the one thing that could not be conjured from thin air: music.”

“There’s something to be said for creating the manual way,” she said. “Truth be told I almost find it more satisfying.”

He nodded. “That says something about our prosperity, doesn’t it? That the most valuable thing we must create for ourselves is a challenge.”

“How was Madiapolis, on that note?” She smirked.

She could practically feel his eyes roll behind his mask. “Never does any one city try my patience so. They only sent one senator to greet me this time.”

She blinked. “A slight?”

“We’re going to have to dismiss Emet-Selch if we want to make amends.” Elidibus sighed, reaching out to a nearby bottle of scotch. He snapped a second glass into existence and poured them both a splash of liquid.

Persephone frowned. “You know that knocks me flat.”

“Drink,” he insisted. “Can you think of a replacement for her off the top of your head?”

“For Emet-Selch?” Persephone took a careful sip and wrinkled her nose. It burned. “Hythlodaeus would be my first choice. After that…mayhaps Hades?”

He stared at her. “You’re supposed to be making my job easier.”

They laughed together.

“Can’t business wait until tomorrow?” she asked. “I’d rather just listen to you play.”

“Now in that, we are of one mind.” Elidibus cracked his knuckles and fluttered his fingers over the keys. “Are you feeling anything in particular?”

“Are you?”

He breathed in, as though to work creation magic. “Something calm but vibrant. Smooth. Ah yes…”

He struck the metronome to a new beat, and began to play.


End file.
